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Original Message
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| It's not a tough fit... |
| By Dave Shoe - 11/29/2001 11:59:35 PM; IP 216.243.158.133 |
...except for the headers. The headers are what make it tough to stick an FE between the wells of this car.
Also, the original motor mounts are cast iron (whether 6-cyl or V-8), but if you borrow some big-block sheetmetal motor mount assy's from a '67-70 Mustang (or small block V8 mounts from the same, but relocate a hole in the frame mounts to make them fit the big-block insulators properly) then you can stuff an FE bare block, heads, and tranny into the bay and see exactly how things fit before it gets too crowded.
In order to fit the engine mounts, you'll have to cut out a tiny part of the center vertical sheetmetal rib in the shock towers. It's fairly obvious where to cut when you try to install the frame mounts. Also, one of the motor mounting holes in the frame of the Ranchero won't be used for the sheetmetal brackets (only for cast iron motor mount brackets) - again this is obvious and the unused hole is not needed for support.
Note that the unibody frame holes for the engine mounts are located in precisely the same location for a '64 Ranchero as for an FE Mustang. The differences are in how Ford carved out space in the shock towers for the big-block-era cars.
I'm not an expert on this, but I have pondered the exact same questions as you and don't see it as being an impossibility. Crites kits completely remove the shock towers, and this makes header installation a whole bunch easier. I suspect a header flange, a lot of welding talent, and your own mandrel bender might allow you to fabricate your own custom-fit "header-manifolds) using hundreds of slices of thinwall tube.
I say, "Go for it!", assuming you have shop space, a torch, and tenacity.
Shoe. |
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